You May Hate Them, but Let Me Tell You Why Palin, Beck and Limbaugh are Great for Liberals

Whenever I write a story covering Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, or Glenn Beck, two things happen.

I get quite a few comments more or less saying, “Who cares, why are we giving these fools attention?”

Around 9/10 times those stories are the most popular and widely shared for the day.

For those who loathe seeing headlines with any of their names mentioned, trust me, I feel your pain. These people infuriate me with their utter stupidity just as much as they do you. Hearing any of their voices for too long would probably make my ears bleed. If there’s a such thing as a hell, for me it would include these three and a 24-hour loop of them speaking about—anything.

That being said, there’s a reason why I’ll still write about these people. I love these people being some of the first people the majority of Americans think about when they think about the Republican party.

While most Americans would loathe the idea of a Republican party built entirely of people like Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz — it would be the best thing for the liberal movement.

These people are so completely ridiculous that only their hardcore base of conservative voters even listens to them. I know a few more moderate Republicans and they can’t stand any of the three. But I know quite a few “far-right” conservatives and they love all three of them.

When a moderate or independent voter thinks of the Republican party, I want people like Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh to be some of the first people they think of.

Because while these ideas might not represent the more moderate Republicans, they do represent the far-right leaning conservatives — and paint a great picture of the type of nation the tea party hopes to mold the United States into. So, as hard as it might be for many to swallow, it’s vital that the true nature of the conservative movement is put on full display. While there are moderate Republicans who don’t agree with these public figures, I believe the majority of conservatives do.

So, the more these people speak (and make headlines) the easier it is to convince independents of true right-wing radical behavior.

Because one thing I’ve learned is that no amount of well articulated writing or any mountain of factual knowledge I can assemble showcases conservative ignorance quite like simply quoting exactly what conservatives say and believe.

Allen Clifton is a native Texan who now lives in the Austin area. He has a degree in Political Science from Sam Houston State University. Allen is a co-founder of Forward Progressives and creator of the popular Right Off A Cliff column and Facebook page. Be sure to follow Allen on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to his channel on YouTube as well.